At a national meeting of the BIMForum in Tacoma, Wash., on Oct. 11, McGraw-Hill Construction presented highlights of its new research showing the rapid advance of building information modeling (BIM) usage by architects, engineers, contractors and owners in North America.

Comparing results from similar research in 2007 and 2009, McGraw-Hill Construction finds:

• The percentage of companies using BIM jumped from 17% in 2007, to 49% in 2009 to 71% in 2012;

• For the first time ever, more contractors (74%) are using BIM than architects (70%);

• All users report increased business benefits from BIM, including better profits, more accurate documentation, less rework, reduced project duration, fewer claims and the ability to offer new services;

• Almost 40% of BIM users are heavily committed to it, doing over 60% of their work in BIM. This group has surged by 44% since 2009;

• As a sign of its increasing acceptance and maturity, almost half (49%) of BIM users have five or more years experience using it.

“This unique multi-year trend data demonstrates clearly that BIM is taking hold in the design and construction industry because it has proven business value,” says Stephen Jones, senior director at McGraw-Hill Construction and lead author of the research.
“This research confirms the wide acceptance and commitment to BIM, even during one of the most challenging times for the AEC industry,” said Phil Bernstein, vice president, strategic industry relations at Autodesk. “The results confirm what we are hearing from our customers on the positive impact BIM-based process change is having on the design, construction and operations of their projects.”


The full results of this research will appear in “The Business Value of BIM in North America SmartMarket Report,” part of the continuing McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Report series, which will be released to the general public at the end of November.